


Chocolate

by LunaStellaCat



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2019-01-04 07:26:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12164244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaStellaCat/pseuds/LunaStellaCat
Summary: Remus Lupin learns he has someone in his corner.





	Chocolate

Remus couldn't help it. He got bored lying in the bed in the hospital wing as rain pounded the windows. A Gryffindor scarf lay in a wooden chair, and she’d taken special care with his schoolbag. The prefect badge got pinned to the scarf, and maybe he read into this, yet he wondered why she cared. After staying in the Shrieking Shack for three nights, Remus always agreed to certain rules and stayed overnight as the moon shifted phase. 

Madam Pomfrey got hired on the same year Remus came to school. She’d practically signed her life away as both Professor Dumbledore and Remus’s father put it; she hadn't made an Unbreakable Vow, but the way they described it, she might as well have done. Blonde haired and blue eyed, Poppy Pomfrey shed light on these transformations. Well, there were the nights out will the boys, and those were always fun, yet she awakened something within him. 

Remus didn't choose not to date because he was a good Catholic boy. Whenever Madam Pomfrey touched his shoulder or showed him kindness, he daydreamed about her and got lost in a fantasy. Remus’s father had already told him he’d probably never marry. In the middle of March, Remus lay alone in the hospital bed and contemplating finishing his Switching Spells essay for Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore cut him no slack, and Professor McGonagall wasn't in the inner circle of people who were in the know, so Remus forever played a game of catch up. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Sirius, Peter, and James rushed up to the dormitory before the matron came to collect Remus in the early morning hours. 

She’d changed. Remus didn't really notice her until last year. Why would she call herself Madam at twenty-four? Since February, her body got fuller and Remus held onto a sneaking suspicion he wasn't the only one who addressed her bosom whenever she addressed male students. She was pregnant, expecting a baby in early summer, but she didn't really talk about it. She wore those simple black dresses and faded into the background, careful to keep the crispness of her white apron.

He woke up around seven on Saturday morning. Someone cried out and distracted him. As he approached Madam Promfrey’s quarters, going past her office, he heard laughter and softball voices. Their breathing sped up, and Remus closed his eyes, imagining holding the matron in his arms. Whoever stayed the night was a very lucky man indeed. Remus dashed back to bed and enjoyed another pain in his trousers having nothing to do with his recent transformations. 

Pretending to sleep, Remus stayed stock still, for she knew Remus slept with his eyes open, and counted the ceiling tiles. As his mother put it, the baby carriage came before the marriage, and some people shared love in their bubble of happiness. He jerked his head and zeroed in on the band on her finger. 

“You can't stay here,” said Madam Pomfrey, letting her friend tie her white apron. She wrapped her hair with a quick hand and punched him in the arm for his cheek. “All right. You can't stay here again, Kristopher.” 

“Oh, sweet Poppy,” said Kristopher. He stroked her cheek and nodded at Remus. “What’s wrong with that kid?” 

Kid? Remus was fifteen, thank you very much! He might not have this bloke’s wavy dark locks nor his dark blue eyes, but he worked in the summertime and added to his mother’s Building Society savings. When his mother actually had fallen ill, Remus felt like the boy who called wolf. (No pun intended, especially since he’s reportedly actually done this as a child.) His father had wiped the werewolf encounter from his mind, but Remus would pay for that stupid mistake for the rest of his life. 

“Nothing. What’s wrong with you?” Madam Promfrey punched him again. 

A laugh escaped Remus’s lips, and she bustled over. The man pulled his curly locks back into a tight ponytail. He wore jeans and a St. Mungo’s fundraiser t-shirt as he passed for a walking advertisement: Let the light shine in! Madam Pomfrey took Remus’s pulse and put a hand to his forehead.

“You’re clammy. I’ll bet it’s the flu.” Madam Pomfrey conjured a glass thermometer and stuck it in Remus’s mouth. As a condition on letting her in on the know on the lycanthropy clinical trial, the matron owned him three days out of the month. 

Remus sighed when the thermometer beeped. He shook it, for he’d learned tricks in and out of hospitals wherever his father dragged him in his desperate search for answers. Remus read the results, and Kristopher grinned. See? Barely a fuss. I’ll drink orange juice.” 

“Remus, do you want Hippocrates Smethwyck pecking me with owls because I let his boy get ill? No. You’re spending the weekend here.” Madam Pomfrey pressed him down into the bed. “Say something.”

“But it’s Quidditch,” said Remus, pointing at the rattling windows as the rain poured down. “Come on, Madam.” 

“No. I don't know why anyone would play sport in this downpour.” Madam Pomfrey tossed the thermometer away and it disintegrated into ash. 

“Auntie thinks it’s perfectly all right,” said Kristopher. He helped himself to Remus’s chart, flipping through the papers. “Lycanthropy? You know Abbey and Hippo? Oh, yeah, I see he signs off on everything.” 

“Kristopher. Keep your hands off what’s not yours.” Muttering about patient healer confidentially, she updated the chart and went to lock it up in her office. 

“Auntie?” Despite the fact this man stole Remus’s woman, curiosity got the best of him and won out in the end. And he found he liked the bloke.

“Kristopher McGonagall. Call me Kit.” Kit offered him a hand and pointed at the Gryffindor scarf. “Your stick in the mud Head of House? She’s my aunt. And don't call her that. Ever. It’s Kristopher with a K.”

Remus smiled. “Hey, Kit. Are you ill?” 

“I can't afford to get ill, and it never bodes well when I’m down for the count.” Kit turned around when Madam Pomfrey sighed. She walked back into the ward and tapped the face of her watch impatiently. “Seriously? Are you afraid people are going to talk, Sister Poppy?” 

Remus snickered. “You do look like a nun.” 

“Auntie Minerva knows, which means my grandfather knows, and if the reverend knows, what’s the point?” Kit sighed dejectedly when Madam Pomfrey kicked him out. “Okay. But remember I outrank you.” 

“At the hospital perhaps,” she said, shoving him away. “I’m better than half the Healers at St. Mungo’s. It’s the matrons who know the story. Kit.” 

“Kit! Kit, Kristopher, no!” Kit imitated the matron’s voice flawlessly. 

“If you’re going to hang around, you might as well be useful. Strip the beds and clean the bedpans.” Madam Pomfrey handed him a stack of fresh linens. “Who outranks who in here?” 

“Whatever Poppy says goes.” 

“Good answer,” said the matron..

Kit got to work and chatted with Remus. He raised his wand lazily after stripping off the dirty sheets and the beds made themselves. Madam Pomfrey bustled about, and the house-elves, sworn to secrecy, bought in two laden trays. Remus ate ravenously. Madam Promfrey always snuck off to the kitchens when the cycle ended and had food delivered. 

“You. Eat. All of it.” Kit unwrapped the matron’s silverware and handed it to her. Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes, but she sat on a bed nonetheless. “You’re worse than Muriel Prewett. I’ve got the boy. If you get ill, then she gets ill, and this whole place goes to hell.” 

“It’s not a she,” said Madam Promfrey, taking a bottle out of her pocket and applying hand sanitizer. 

“I’ve got the prefect,” said Kit. He went back over to Remus, mended his clavicle, a few broken ribs and checked for a cracked skull. “Ouch, Remus, you need a restraining order against yourself. Look at these cuts.” 

“Hydrogen peroxide. No Quidditch.” Madam Pomfrey brandished her fork in Remus’s direction. She snuck back into her quarters, found some black olives, and mixed these into her scrambled eggs. Kit.” 

“Yes?” Kit bandaged Remus’s head and admired his handiwork. 

“I’m out of cream cheese and olives,” she sighed. 

“Cream cheese and olives, heard,” recited Kit, feeding her words back to her. Remus recognized this as proper acknowledgement protocol at the hospital. “Can't you steal from the kitchens?” 

“Okay, okay, can I go now?” Thinking James could check the stores in the kitchens without a fuss, Remus checked his pulse and walked in a straight line as he reeled off his vitals. Kit gave him a fist bump. Smiling, swinging his feet over the side of the bed, Remus adopted a lofty voice, too. He switched to third person, hopefully bringing Hippocrates to mind. “He’s stable, and he’s vitals are in good range. Why fix something that isn't broken? Remus is doing well.” 

Kit, impressed by the gall of this argument, gave a low whistle. Remus spotted his angle and took this to his advantage. He put his hands together, not below pleading. “Awww, let him attend the match, Poppy, I’ll be there if things take a turn because I’m watching it with my aunt before a late lunch with friends. He just pulled a Hippocrates.” 

“Healer Smethwyck doesn’t scare me,” said Madam Pomfrey. 

“Yeah. But it’s Saturday.” Kit winked at Remus, telling him he had this thing in the bag. Remus didn’t know Kristopher from Adam, but he gave it a shot. “How’s about this? Remus watches the match, and he comes back to the ward and he’ll sit there like a statue. No overexertion whatsoever, especially given we just mended his skull. I will babysit.” 

Madam Pomfrey considered this. “No running away after the match, Mr. Lupin, so don’t you and your friends try one of your schemes because you won't pull one over on me. No parties.” 

Remus shook on it. He went off to the showers, came back in comfortable clothes, and pulled on his scarf. Kit went to fetch his coat, an expensive thing that cost a pretty Galleon, and helped Remus pull it on. It hung around Remus’s frame. 

“Suave,” said Remus, feeling the fabric. 

“Right? My grandpa always tells me to dress to impress. It’s a Fraser Mackintosh.” Kit chased him down the Grand Staircase, wrapped a Hufflepuff scarf around his neck after he conjured it, and steered him outside. 

“Not a Gryffindor?” 

“Me? No. I’m afraid this where I leave you, Mr. Lupin, because we will be on opposing sides.” Kit thundered up the stands and dashed towards the Teachers Box to chat with Professor McGonagall. 

For a split second, Remus thought about staying put and following the terms and conditions of his temporary release. But Sirius found him and easily swayed him over to joining friends in the stands. After all, Remus thought as he spotted Kit embracing his aunt, Professor McGonagall’s nephew probably got ditched all the time when he was in school. Remus draped his arms over his friends’ shoulders and got lost in the crowd. 

“You try my patience,” said Madam Pomfrey, snatching him by the arm as they headed towards the castle. Remus had started heading towards the Gryffindor common room, but she grabbed him by the ear when Remus attempted to dodge her a second time. She let go almost immediately. 

“I asked you to stay, Remus,” said Kit, marching them back towards the hospital wing. He didn’t seem as quick to anger as Professor McGonagall, but he got his point across anyway. “Don’t you realize Hippocrates can yank you from this clinical trial as quickly as he placed you there?” 

“He created the trial with me in mind,” said Remus. He didn’t think Hippocrates would jump to such a conclusion over Remus spending time with his friends. There was absolutely nothing to back this up, except Hippocrates treated him like family. 

“Everyone involved in hiding you doesn’t matter as long as you get an afternoon out with friends. Is that it, Remus?” Madam Pomfrey rounded on him the moment they entered the hospital wing. She counted off the list on her fingers, raging at him. “Your father, your mother, Mr. Belby, Abbey, Hippocrates … Kit … Professor Dumbledore! A fine way to repay him! Do you have any idea what happens the second this all comes crashing down? Do you even care?” 

Kit held up four fingers. “This many people lose their healing licenses, and you’ve got two families, including a pregnant woman, out on the street. Think of it like building a house with Exploding Snap cards.” 

“I didn’t mean …” Remus’s voice caught in his throat as he watched Madam Pomfrey pace back and forth, and he focused on her feet. He was a kid. Everyone else got to do whatever they wanted on the weekends, and he had to deal with the increased workload and sharing prefect duties with chatty Mary. The matron actually rubbed her hands so much Remus imagined her rubbing them raw. “I’m sorry.” 

“You’re not a child, Remus, or you cannot think as a child. You agreed, you signed a magically binding contract with your father and mother, and I can go to jail. Look at me!” Madam Pomfrey jarred Remus so badly he backed into a stretcher leaning against a wall. 

“Poppy,” said Kit warningly. 

“I would lay down my life for you, Remus,” she said, falling to her knees in front of him. Remus wanted to tell her to get up, but he had trouble finding his voice. “But this is so much better than you. If Belby gets the Wolfsbane Potion in the game, that changes everything. Maybe not right away, but you … you have an opportunity to do something extraordinary. It’s hard. I know. Stay the course, my friend, and hang in there.” 

“Oh, my God. He’s going to kill me when he hears …” Remus’s face paled. “Please don't tell Hippocrates and Abbey.” 

“Tell them what?” Madam Pomfrey held out a hand and Remus heaved her to her feet. She wiped her eyes and went to fetch a large bar of Honeyduke’s best chocolate. “This never happened. Happy belated birthday.” 

Kit perched himself on a bed and clapped his hands together. “Right. Who’s going to tell Abbey Kit’s in on the secret?” 

Abbey, a renowned lycanthropic specialist, might be a tiny thing, but she held a lot of power. It helped, Remus guessed, when you were married to the Healer-in-Charge of the Dai Llwellyn ward. It took Remus’s father ages to seek a helping hand as he searched for a cure, and it took him a long time to warm up to the Smethwycks. If Professor McGonagall got angry, she was nothing compared to Abbey and her werewolves. 

“Yeah, I’m not throwing you a save,” said Madam Pomfrey. 

“I’ll do it,” says Remus quietly. If he got with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, although technically nothing had happened, Remus would make his next appointment at St. Mungo’s interesting. 

“You’re all right, Mr. Lupin.” Taking the chocolate bar when Remus sat beside him, Kit slapped it on the edge of a bedside cabinet and made Madam Pomfrey jump. Kit opened it with his teeth and handed it to Remus. He rolled his eyes when Remus acted hesitant. “You’re an escape artist, and we’re going to let it slide.” 

Remus pointed towards the matron’s quarters. “You broke the rules, too.” 

“What?” Poppy Pomfrey flushed with color as she patted her hair. Kit muttered incoherently. “Eat your chocolate.” 

“What’re we going to do when the baby comes?” Kit gestured Remus. “You’re gonna work till you drop because you’re you, but what happens when something goes wrong?” 

“It’ll come in June,” she said decisively, pulling up a chair and resting her feet on Kit’s bed. 

“She’ll come when she comes,” said Kit evenly. Madam Pomfrey shrugged. Kit passed a hand over his haggard face. “You’re gonna wanna kill these kids who are freaking out about their O.W.L’s and N.E.W.T’s. I can see it now.” 

“I’ll deal with it,” she said. She turned towards Remus. “This is the one time I will let things slide with you. If you put one toe out of line, I’m writing your father and you will get one hell of a Howler from Healer Smethwyck. I am on your side, but I’ve got other stuff going on. Not your momma.” 

“Understood.” Remus folded the paper over the rest the chocolate bar and stowed it away.

The matron let him leave after he gathered his things. Remus darted out into the corridor, made it halfway to Gryffindor Tower, and swung his bag over his shoulder. Ignoring Peter, who shouted at him with his hands cupped over his mouth, Remus went back the way he came, signaling at Peter to wait. 

When he got back on the ward, Remus wrapped his arms around her neck, hugging her from behind, telling her not to get up, and offered her the chocolate. Kristopher gave him a high five. Madam Pomfrey smiled, patted him on the neck, and tore off a particularly large piece.

**Author's Note:**

> Got this idea from Remus's backstory. A kind matron once treated me. Hope you liked it. Reviews would be appreciated. This is my first true Marauder piece.


End file.
